By superfan Shari Randall September 15 marked the 130th anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birth and I’ve been celebrating all week. Please join me in raising a cup of tea in a toast to Dame Agatha, one of the most influential and successful novelists of all time. Her genre, the traditional mystery, has remained popular with […]
by Sparkle Abbey It’s hard to believe it’s already September and one of the top ten words of 2020 is “quarantine.” Like many of our fellow Stiletto Gang authors, we’re also on Zoom overload, longing to meet friends at our favorite restaurants, and mourning the end of summer vacations—mostly because we didn’t have a vacation. […]
Bridging Borders Leadership Program 2020 1990 Dear Reader, I thank you for returning every month to read my posts. I am honored and thrilled to be invited to write for the Stiletto Gang and be a part of a collective of women mystery writers who change and shape the world we live in by merely […]
by Shari Randall If you’re like me, you had a lot of travel plans canceled this summer. My consolation? Armchair travel with my TBR (to be read) pile. One of the great things about books is that they let us travel without leaving home. So I thought I’d take you to the setting of my […]
By Lynn McPherson There are so many aspects to consider when writing a book, today I’m going to tackle an area that doesn’t often get much attention—weather. If a book is set in a place with year-round sunshine, or during a season with a comfortable temperature then it may never come into play. And that’s okay. […]
https://www.newmexico.org/nmmagazine/articles/post/libros-para-el-viaje/ photo from new mexico magazine Photographs by Jay Hemphill. https://remezcla.com/culture/new-mexico-bookstore-starts-book-drive-immigrants-border/ https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-01-04/latina-author-organizes-book-drive-for-migrant-families Dear Reader, I met Denise in Pueblo, Colorado many years ago at a Latino Writer’s Workshop. She was the headliner for an audience of Latino writers and the community of Pueblo. I admit, I had not remembered her name nor that I had […]
by Shari Randall When I was a little girl, I rarely noticed the authors’ names on the books I gobbled up like penny candy from the corner store. The only exception was the author of my favorite books. Even though we referred to them as “Nancy Drews” my friends and I knew the author of the […]
by Mary Lee Ashford aka 1/2 of Sparkle Abbey Do you like to read books that are part of a series? And, if you enjoy reading series fiction, do you always read them sequentially? When asked most authors will say that each book stands alone and that they don’t neccessarly need to be read in […]
June 25, 2020 Juliana in 1971 Juliana and the Chicana Icon, Denise Chavez Dear Reader, I am disgusted by the turmoil in this country about race. The hate against people of color and their dark skin makes me outraged. I cannot pass for white. I am married to a white man and he cannot pass […]
By Lynn McPherson Today I want to address a question a lot of writers face at some point in their career. What should I do if I don’t feel like writing? The short answer is to write anyway. My opinion is not shared by everyone. For that reason I’ve decided to give you my thoughts […]